johnson



G. A. JOHNSON.

\QUILL GRINDING MACHINE.v

APPUCATION FILED JUNE I. 1918.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

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G. A. JOHNSON.

QUILL GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I, 1918.

Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 avwemfoz G. A. JOHNSON QUILL GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 191a.

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anvewfoz Patented Oct. 21,1919.

Clfl'ozmeqs 45 an abrading 'wheel rotating in opposite UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'eUsTAvE A. Jonson, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

WILL- RINDING MACHINE.

Application filed June 1, 1918. serial No. 237,808.

' To all whom z't may concern provision of mechanism for grinding the a'brading device away from the shafts or quills of feathers to reduce the thickness thereof without severing-the barbs from the shafts of the feathers.

A further important object of the invention is to provide efficient means for feeding the shaft or rachis of a feather longitudinally past a grinding wheel to remove a portion of the rachis throughout the length thereof, thus reducing .the thickness of the rachis and also greatly increasing the flexibility of the rachis.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means whereby the tapered shaft or rachis of a feather may be reduced in thickness a predetermined uniform amount through-out its length. r

A further object of theinvention is to provide means adapted to contact with the shaft of a feather as it is fed past a grinding wheel for automatically controlling the extent to which the surface of the shaft is ground away by the wheel.

Another important object is theprovision of means for feeding a feather longitudinally between a support and a shi ftable abrading device and means adapted to be engaged by the tapered shaft of the advancing feather at a point in'advance of the abrading device to gradually move the support.- A. further object of the invention is to 'provide a traveling barb-gripping means which 'is adapted topass the shafts of the feathers betweena supporting drum and directions, and to provide means for feeding feathers tip end first to the barb-gripping means with theirshafts in alinement with the abrading 'Wheelf T In the drawings, Figure llis aside eleva tion of an apparatus embodying the. invention; i Figj 2 a 'plan view thereof;

7 Fig, 3. a vertical transverse section'onthe 7 line j III- 111 ofFig. 1%;

Specification of Letters Patent.

United States, and resi- Patented 0a 21, 1919.

Fig. 4 a detail view showing "the "mode of operation of the abradingwheel; and

ig. 5 a vertical transverse section'on the line V V of Figf 1.

In the manufacture of marabou dress and h'at trimmings, feather boas, summer furs, 7

and the like, it has been found to be desirable to reduce the thickness of thejshafts or quills of the feathers as much as possible without impairing the connections between the barbs and quill, inorder to re; 7

duce the bulk and weight of the quills and to increase the 'flexibility'thereof. As is well known, the rachis, shaft,'or quill'of a feather is raised above the plane of the barbs to a much greater'extent on the inner side of the feather than on the outer side, and it is also well known that theshaft or rachis tapers from its base to the tip ofthe feather so that when-the feather is flattenedfout upon a support the points ofconne'ction between the barbs and the shaftwill lie in a plane inclined relatively to the support. The purpose of the present invention is to provide means whereby the major part of the raised portion of the tapering rachis on the inner side of the feather may be removed without rupturing the connections between the bar-lbs and the rachis. 1

Referring to the drawings by numerals, '1 designates a table upon which is mounted an arched support or frame 2 provided with a depending bracket 3. A sleeve 4 is rotatably mounted in the lower end of the bracket 3, said sleeve being formed with a collar 5 atone side of said bracket and having a nut 6 threaded on one end thereof at the opposite side of the bracket; .The

-nut 6 is preferably locked upon'the sleeve,

engaging the threads on the sleeve. A shaft Sis JOurnaIed intermediate its ends-in said sleeve, said shaft passingfthrough the sleeve eccentrically ofthe axis of rotation of the sleeve and having an abrading or grinding wheel 9 fixed on its outer end. The inner end of said shaft has a flexible driving connection 110, such as a universal joint or flexible shaft, with the shaft of an electric motor'll, or other suitable driving means, held to theunder-side-of a bracket 38. A rotary "drum or rachis support 12 is keyedon' the outer end of a shaft 18 at apoint below the abrading wheel '9, said shaft 13 being journaled- "in suitable bearings l lgon-the :tableil. Anele'ctricor other suitable motor 15 is held to the under side of the table and is adapted to drive the drum 12 in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the' emery wheel 9, through pinions 16, 17 and 18. The pinion 16 is fixed on the shaft of motor 15 and meshes with the pinion 17 which is fixed' on a shaft '19 journaled in the side members 20 of table 1. Pinion 17 meshes with the pinion 18 which is fixed on the shaft 13 adjacent thei'nner end of said shaft and extends through a suitable aperture in the top of table l. I

The feathers are fed'between the emery wheel 9 and drum 12 by a barb-gripping mechanism comprising a pair of spaced endless belts 21 and 22 and a cooperating pair of spaced endlessbelts 23 and 24. The belts 21 and. 22 are frictionally driven by the drum 12, said belts passing over the upper portion of said drum at opposite sides of the grinding wheel 9 and about three pairs of idle pulleys 25, 26 and 27 adjustably supported on the arched frame 2. The belts 23 and 24 pass over drum 12 directly under belts 21 and 22, respectively, and are driven by said drum. The pulleys 26 are located above the drum and pulleys 25 and 27 are located atopposite sides of the drum, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The belts 23 and 24 also pass about, and are adapted to drive, an endless feather feeding and raohis alining mechanism embodying a series of slats 28 flexibly connected together by a sprocket chain 29 which passes over sprocket wheels 30 and 31 mounted on shafts 32 and 33, respectively. The shafts 32 and '33 are journaled in the side members 20 of tablel', and the sprocket wheelsv 30 and 31 are mounted on the ends of said shafts which project beyond one side of the table, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The slats 28 are provided with'two parallel rows of pins 34 substantially midway their length between' the spaced belts 23 and 24. The slats 28 on the upper run of the endless conveyer are supported on the upper edges of the side flanges of a channel-shaped member 35 mounted on brackets 36 held to the adjacent side member 20 of table 1', and the upper run of the sprocket chain 29 travels be tween said side flanges of member 35. The lower run of the endless slat conveyer passes over a suitable adjustable idle pulley 37.

The feathers are fed to the barb-gripping means tip end first and with the inner side of the feather uppermost. The feathers are placed successively upon the endless slat conveyer with their shafts or quills 39 lying longitudinally between the rows of pins 34 and with said pins projecting upwardly betweenthe barbs 40. It will thus be seen that the pins serve to positively carry the feathers with the slat conveyer and. also serve to aline the shafts of the feathers between the barb-gripplngbelts in position to be carried lengthwise beneath the emery wheel 9.

-As the feathers are carried forwardly they are stripped from the pins 34 by belts 23" and 24, and the barbs 4.0 are gripped be tween said belts and the belts 21 and 22, the quills or shafts 39 being suspended between the pairs of barb-gripping belts in alinement with the emery wheel 9. As the feathers are carried over drum12 and beneath the emery wheel 9 the shafts 39 thereof are supported upon an annular rib 41 formed on the periphery of the drum.

In order to prevent excessive reduction in thickness of the tapering shafts 39 at any point, and the consequent rupturing of the connections between the barbs and their shafts, means is provided for gradually and automatically moving the emery wheel away :i

from the drum 12 as the thicker end of each shaft approaches the grindingpoint. The mechanism for shifting the grinding wheel 9 comprises a presser finger 42, the lower end of which is adapted to ride upon the 1 shafts of the feathers as they pass to the wheel 9 at a point slightly in advance of the grinding point. The finger 42 is adjustably held to the outer end of an, angular arm 43 by means of a thumb nut 44 passing through said finger and through a slot in said arm. The arm 43 is formedwith 'a hub 45 looked upon the outer end of sleeve 4 by a set screw 46. It will be obvious that as the tapered shaft of a feather passes b'eneath the presser finger 42 to the grinding wheel said finger will be gradually lifted, thus rocking arm 43 and rotating sleeve 4. The rotation of sleeve 4 elevates the shaft 8 of the emery wheel 9 which is eccentrically mounted in said sleeve and thus moves the emery Wheel farther from rib 41 on the drum 12. c

The initial ornormal relation between the lower end of finger 42 and the emery wheel and drum may be varied by adjusting-the finger upon the arm 43. The'initial or normal position of the wheel 9 with relation to drum 12 may be varied by adjusting a stop screw 47 threaded through an arm-.48

formed on the depending bracket The stop screw 47 i is normally engaged by a rigid stop arm 49 formed on the hub 45 of the rocking arm 43, said stop screw 47 and arm '49 serving to limit the movement of the emery wheel 9 toward the drum 12. A coiled spring 50,'connected at its upper end to arm 43 and at its lower end to a bracket 51 held to the depending bracket 3,

serves to yieldably hold the finger 42 and the emery Wheel 9 in their initially adjusted positions. What I claim is: v 1 1. The combination with an abrading device, of cotiperatingpairs of spaced belts adapted to grlp the barbs; of a feather at.

opposite sides of its rachis and carry the rachis of the feather longitudinally past the abrading device, means opposed to the abrading device for supporting the rachis of the feather as it is carried past the abrading device, and means adapted to contact with the rachis of the feather as it passes to the abrading device for moving said device relatively to said rachis-supporting means.

2. The combination of an abrading wheel, means for rotating said wheel, a drum opposed to said abrading wheel, means for rotating said drum in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the abrading wheel, cooperating pairs of spaced belts. adapted to grip the barbs of a feather at opposite sides of the rachis and carry the rachis longitudinally between the abrading wheel and said drum, and means adapted to contact with the rachis of the feather for automatically shifting the abrading wheel relatively to the drum for varying the space between the perimeters of the abrading wheel and drum.

3. The combination of an abrading wheel, an eccentric bearing for said wheel, means for rotating said wheel, a drum opposed to said abrading wheel, means for rotating said drum in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the abrading wheel, means adapted to grip the barbs of a feather at opposite side of the rachis and carry the rachis longitudinally between the abrading wheel and said drum, an arm held to said eccentric bearing for rotating the same, and means carried by said arm adapted to engage the rachis of the feather as it passes to the abrading wheel for shifting the abrading wheel relatively to said drum.

4. The combination of a rotary abrading wheel, means adapted to grasp the barbs of a feather at opposite sides of its rachis and carry the rachis longitudinally past the abrading wheel, and an endless conveyer adapted to deliver a feather end first to said barb-grasping means and provided with two parallel longitudinally extending rows of projections adapted to receive the rachis of a feather therebetween to aline the barbs with the grasping means and the rachis with the abrading wheel.

5. In an apparatus of the class set forth, the combination of a shaft, an abrading wheel on said shaft, a rotatable eccentric bearing for said shaft, means for conveying a feather longitudinally past said wheel, means opposed to said wheel for supporting the rachis 'of the feather. as it passes said wheel, means held to said bearing and adapted to contact with the rachis of afeather in advance of said wheel for rotating said eccentric bearing to shift the wheel relatively to the rachis supporting means, and means for limiting the movement of the wheel toward said supporting means.

6. In an apparatus of the class set forth,

the combination of a shaft, an abrading wheel on said shaft, a rotatable eccentric bearing for said shaft, means for conveying a feather longitudinally past said wheel, means opposed to said wheel for supporting the rachis of a feather as it passes the wheel, an arm held to said bearing, an adjustable contact finger held to said arm adapted to engage the rachis of a feather in advance of said wheel, and adjustable means for limiting the movement of said wheel toward the rachis supporting means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

GUSTAVE A. JOHNSON.

Oopie: of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner otratents. Washington, D. O. 

